Top Aussie Slang Words (Accent): A Complete Guide
If you are an international student planning to study in Australia, the Aussie slang words below will help you get through everyday life and avoid confusion. Don’t worry! You’ll soon be used to the Aussie English.
Here’s a list of Aussie slang words/phrases and acronyms used in Australia:
Words Used to Express Yourself
| TERMS/PHRASES | MEANING |
| Jelly | Jealous |
| Aggro | Angry |
| Totes | Totally |
| Heaps | A lot/ very |
| Full on | Wild/ Intense |
| Play it by ear | Decide as you go |
| No worries | It’s OK/ Don’t worry about it |
| ______ as | Here you can use words like Tired as, Busy as or Awesome as. To understand the speaker, you can cut the word ‘as’ and replace it with ‘very’ in the front. This will help you to get what the speaker means to say. |
| Average/Ordinary | You need to be careful when using these words as they can sound like an insult, signifying that something is of poor quality. |
| Try hard | Someone who tries too hard to please others or is annoyingly enthusiastic. |
| She’ll be right | It’ll be fine |
Words Used when Eating or Going Out
| TERMS/PHRASES | MEANING |
| Kiwi | A New Zealander (but also a bird or a fruit) |
| Cuppa | A hot beverage |
| Flat white | Coffee with cream or milk |
| Macca’s | Mcdonald's |
| Sanga | Sandwich |
| Jell-O | Jelly |
| Stubbie | A bottle of beer |
| Durry | Cigarette |
| Vegies | Vegetables |
| Spud | A potato |
| Snag | Sausage |
| Goon | Cheap wine in a bag |
| Avo | Avocado |
| Barbie | BBQ |
| Brekkie | Breakfast |
| Bikkie | A biscuit |
| Chemist | Pharmacy/Drug store |
| Dunny | Toilet |
| Bucks | Dollars |
| Bottle-o | Liquor store |
| Grog run | A trip to go and buy alcohol |
| Esky | Ice cooler |
| Petrol | Gas |
| Knock | To criticise something |
| Arvo | The afternoon |
| Straya | Australia |
| Footy | Football |
| Mate | Friend |
| Pokies | Poker Machine |
| Budgie Smuggler | A pair of speedos |
| Mozzie | Mosquito |
| Skull | To drink something quickly in one go |
| Servo | Gas station/Service station |
| Hungry Jacks/HJs | Burger King |
| Woop Woop | Used to indicate a place far away |
| Shout | A round of drinks paid for by a particular person |
| EFTPOS | Machine for electronic payments. Its full form is- Electronic Funds Transfer at Point Of Sale |
| ATM | Electronic Banking Outlet/ Teller Machine. Its full form is- Automatic Teller Machine |
Words Used at School
| TERMS/PHRASES | MEANING |
| Rubber | Eraser |
| Uni | University |
| Pacer | Refillable/Mechanical pencil |
| Wag | To skip class |
| Biro | Pen |
| Mobile/Mobes | Cell phone |
| Zed | The letter ‘Z’ |
| Reckon | Figure/Think/Assume |
| Dodgy | Suspicious/Poor quality/ Not reliable |
| How good is that? | That’s good |
| How’s it going/How ya going | How are you? |
Words Used at The Workplace
| TERMS/PHRASES | MEANING |
| Lift | Elevator |
| Reach out | Get into contact with |
| Bludger | A lazy person |
| FYI | For Your Information |
| ASAP | As Soon As Possible |
| Fair go | A fair chance |
| Moving forward | Moving on to the next thing/Thinking about the future |
| Whinger | Someone who complains a lot |
| Sickie | A day off work due to illness |
| Call it a day | To complete what you’re doing |
| Give someone a holler/ a bell | To call someone on the phone |
| Ta | Thank you |
Someone who has stayed in Australia knows that Australian English is more than just an accent. It consists of unique Aussie expressions, phrases and slang terms. Australian English has become its language.
Aussies do not pronounce the entire word. They make words sound as short as possible, as though speaking through clenched teeth.
Choosing Australia as a study destination will help you significantly improve your English language proficiency, including some of the Aussie slang terms/phrases mentioned above.
You can research frequently used words in Australia if you still need clarification.
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